Reading Assignment on "The Yes Men Fix the World"
After watching "The Yes Men Fix the World" movie in class and on my own time, I found the video to be very entertaining and informative on important issues. The movie stars the two men know as the Yes Men (Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno) who use humor and truth to bring media attention to the crimes of their unwilling employers. In the movie, the Yes Men pretend to be representatives from the World Trade Organization, Dow Chemical Corporation, and the Bush administration on TV and at business conferences around the world. The Yes Men seek to expose the dangers of economic policies that place the place the rights of capital before the needs of people and the environment. In the movie, the Yes Men document on the following projects: Dow Chemical and Bhopal, ExxonMobil Vivoleum, Halilburton Survivaball, HUD & post-Katrina public housing, and finally the New York Times Hopeful Future Edition. While five different issues were brought to the world's attention through the film, I will focus on explaining how the Yes Men approached the Dow Chemical and Bhopal disaster. On December 3rd, 2004, which is the twentieth anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, Andy Bichlbaum appeared on BBC World as "Jude Finisterra", a Dow Chemical spokesman. As the owner of Union Carbide, Dow is the company responsible for the chemical disaster that happened in Bhopal, India on December 3rd, 1984. The chemical disaster in Bhopal immediately killed roughly 3,800 people from the hazardous chemicals and more were killed by the plume from the UCC plant during the next few days. On the fake Dow Chemical website made by the Yes Men, the men stated that the Dow Chemical Company had no intention whatsoever of repairing the damage. After doing that, the Yes Men made the decision to pressure the Dow further so Bichlbaum went on BBC World news to claim that Dow aimed to liquidate Union Carbide and use the resulting $12 billion to pay for medical care, clean up the site, and fund research into the dangers of other Dow products. After the two hour coverage, Dow issued a press release dismissing the statement and the Dow's share price went down 4.24 percent in twenty three minutes. After the original interview was revealed as a hoax, Bichlbaum appeared in a follow-up interview on the UK's Channel 4 news. During the interview, Bichlbaum was asked if he had taken the emotions and feelings of the people of Bhopal when making the hoax. Bichlbaum stated that compared to the chemical disaster incident, the distress he caused the people was minimal to what Dow was responsible for. The Yes Men stated on their website that once the people in Bhopal got over their disappointment that what was said in the original interview wasn't real, the people were pleased about the hoax and believed it helped to bring awareness of the chemical disaster incident.
